Starting-gear for motor-cars.



F. wuLLYAn/Ioz. STARTING GEAR Foa Moron GARS.

I APPLICATION FILED OCT. 29,4913.

ls, Patented Dec. 28, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

F. WULLYAMOZ.

STARTINQGEAR Foa MOTOR CARS.

, APPLICATION FILED OCT. 29, 1913. @,O.

Patented Dec. 28, 1915.

f x YJW i eAe ATN ermee.

rnnnnnrc wULLYAMoz, or LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND.

STRTINGEGEAR FOB, MOTOR-CARS.

Specication of Letters .Patent Patented Dec., 2%, 119115.

Application :Sled October 29, 1913. Serial No. 797,953.

tain new and useful Improvements in Start' ing-Gears for Motor-Cars, of which the following is a. specification.

There are various types of starting gearfor motor cars operated from the drivers box, and l am also aware that there are starting gears for motor cars operated by a lever and toothed segment. But in all these devices, so far as I am aware, the starting lever is so arranged that the driver must push it away from him or at least, in operating the same, the driver makes use of the stren h of his arms alone.

rlhe object of the present invention however is the provision of a starting device operated from the drivers box by the simultaneous use ofthe arms and legs or' the driver, and this is obtained by employing a gear so arranged. that the driver has to draw astarting lever toward himself` and at the same time press on a pedal, which, by means of suitable gears, acts on the same .toothed segment and in thesame direotionas the startp in lever does.

e accompanying drawings show several v forms of my inventlon, and 1n whichb', to which is secured the usual pedal f of Figure 1 isa sectional elevation illustrating one form of my improved starting mechanism. Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevation and partial section illustrating the manner in which the pinion, as illustrated in Fig. 1, is attached to the engine shaft. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation illustratin another orm of my starting mechanism. ig. 4 is a sectional plan of the same, the section being taken 'on line C, D, -Fig.3, and Fig. 5'is a sectional elevation, the section, being taken on line A, B, 3.

- Referring to igs. 1 and 2, 2- represents a starting lever secured to the shaft b, and is .provided with a toothed segment al at the 'end of a curved arm i. v The segment d, at times, meshes with the pinion e which is tted loosely -to the driving shaft c of the motor. The arm i is bent to pass over a' shaft the accelerator of the motor. 0n this same 4 shaft is mounted loosel a pedal a which is integral with a toothe se ent g meshing out of 'The pinlon e, tting loosely on the shaft c,

shaft b. The toothed segment d is onlyy in gear with the pinion e when the motor is to be startedand at other times, that is, before and-after the starting of the car they are ear and the starting lever at rest.

is fast to a cylindrical casing m containing a ratchet wheel n fast to the shaft c and two awls lm. carried by the casing and engagmg the ratchet wheel. When the driver pulls the lever a by hand and depresses the pedal a in the direction indicated by the arrow, he thereby throws the segment d into gear with the pinion e and rotates the Shaft'c by means of the pawls m and the ratchet wheel n, and starts the motor. By this contrivance, much power will be brought into action, making it possible to employ a relatively large gear ratio between the shaft 'b and the pinion e, which will make the pinion e turn rapidly and insure the starting of the motor. Instead of the ratchet and pawls, any other suitable coupling device may be'employed in order to produce the same result, and also the gearing between the pedal a' and the toothed segment d maybe madeinany other suitable manner without departing from the nature of the invention.

Referring toFigs. 3, 4 and 5, a is the manually operated starting lever and a the starting lever acted upon by the foot. Both these levers actuate one and the same lpinion e which is a part ofa rocking lever the end of which carries a toothed segment d in gear with a conical' pinion e fixed 'to the shaft c of the motor. rllhe rocking lever 'el is supported in its rocking movements 'by a guide roller p the socket' of which is xed to the frame of the machine. The toothed segment d is not firmly fixed tothe end of the rocking lever i but connected to the same by means of a device which is shown se arately in Fig. 5 of the drawing. The en c" of lever c' is of U-sha ed section as shown in Fig. 4 and has'a ottom-portion i? intended to limit thestroke of the toothed segment d hinged to the end t by. means .of links lc guided by the U-shaped head of i', There is further provided a spiral-spring Z which tends to maintain the toothed segment al in its lower position, in which-1t.

rests upon the bottom is of the end e". A

cap o Ais fixed to the toothed segment d and has on one side a projecting guide o the 11@ lower end of which is bent as shown at o2 and o8 in Fig. 5.- This guide o coperates with a catch g acted upon by a spiral spring g2 located in a tubular casing g fixed to the frame of the machine. The l catch g acts upon the guide 0 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5, to retract the toothed segment d out of reach of the teeth of the pinion e when the rocking lever z' is-caused to return to its starting position, as shown in full lines in said figure. It will be seen in this same Fig. 5 that the roller p is placed so as to support the lever z' in those parts of its strokes in which the toothed segment al engages the pinion e. When the starting lever is at rest the arm i and segment d will have the positions as shown in Fig. 3' and in Fig. 5 in full lines, the bar d resting on the shoulder 3 and the segment d being'out of gear with the pinion e. When the driver pulls the starting lever a, and at the same time depresses the pedal a the arm i will swing upward and .the segment d will be thrown into gear with the pinion e, the back-side of the arm i rolling on the guide roller p and the blade o sliding on the outward side of the pin g which is solidly `iXed on a cylindrical sliding piece yieldingly secured by means of the spring g within a casing g2 fixed on the frame of the car. When the segment al continues its movements upward, the shoulder 02 meets the pin g, pushing it aside untilethe bottom piece o3- is freed. The toothed segment d is then no longer in gear with the pinion e, and the arm i is at the upper end of its travel so that the pin g slides back into its initial position. By this operation the motor will have been started in the same way as has been described for Figs. 1 and 2,-

andthe driver maynow let the starting lever a and the pedal a return to their initial positions, whereupon the segment d and the arm i will return by their own weight into their initial positions of rest without interfering with the pinion e which in this case is keyed to the driving shaft of the motor. Before the toothed segment d, when moving downward, will have reached the pinion e, 'the bottom piece o will have reached the pin g and slidingA onA its linner side the shoulder o2 will force thebar d to swing around until it comes into contact with the bar 21', thereby moving the segment d out of the path of the pinion e to' the position as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5, the spring Z then connecting theltwo bars d and t in such va way that it Awill shoulder 03,-'. notwithstanding the action of the spring Z which is only adjusted so as to break the fall and prevent shock.

I claim as my invention- 1. A starting mechanism for motor vehicle engines comprising a shaft, a pinion on the same, a hand lever, an arm connected to the hand lever, a rack gear, means for pivotally connecting the said rack gear in the free end of the said arm, means for yieldingly maintaining the said rack gear normally against the end of the said arm so that when moved in one direction the said rack will engage'thelsaid pinion, and means 'operative when the lever and arm are moved in the opposite direction for causing the said rack to clear said pinion.,

2. A starting mechanism for motor ve- 'hicle engines comprising a shaft, a pinion for causing the said rack to clear the said pinion.

3. A starting mechanism for motor vehicle engines comprising a shaft, a pinion on the-same, a hand lever, an arm connected to the hand lever, a rack gear, links by which the said rack gear is pivotally connected to the 'free end of the said arm, a spring for normally maintaining the said rack gear in position against the free end of the said arm so that when the said arm and hand lever are actuated in one direction the said rack gear meshes with thesaid pinion, a'yieldingly mounted pin, and a plate carried by the said rack gear and adapted to engage with the said yieldingly mounted pin to-swing and maintain the said rack gear out of engagement with the pinion when the said arm and hand lever are moved in the opposite direction.

4:. A starting mechanism for motor vehicle engines comprising a shaft, a pinion on the shaft, a hand lever, a foot lever, an arm connected to and operated by the simultaneous movement of the said hand and foot levers, a rack gear yieldingly mounted in the end of the said arm and adapted when the xsaid hand and ,foot levers and arm are moved in one direction to engage the said pinion, and means operative when the said hand and foot levers and arm are moved in the opposite direction for causing said rack to clear said inion.

5. A startmg mechanism for motor ve hicle engines comprising a shaft, a pinion on the shaft, a hand lever, a foot lever, an i arm connected to and operated by the simultaneous movement of the said hand and foot levers, a rack gear, means for' yieldingly mounting the said rack gear in the free end of the said arm, means for normally maintaining the said rack gear against the free end of the said arm so that when the said hand and .foot lever and arm are moved in one direction the said rack engages the said pinion, and means operative when the said hand and foot levers and arm are moved in the opposite direction for caussame is pivotally mounted in the free end oi? the said arm, a spring for normally maintaining the said rack gear against. the free end of the said arm so that When the said hand and foot levers and arm are -moved in one direction the said rack gear engages the said pinion, a yieldingly mounted pin, and a plate connected to lthe said rack gear and. adapted to engage the said yieldingly mounted pinto swingtli'e said rack gear ,1.

from and maintain the same out of contact with the said pinion when the said hand and foot levers and armare moved in the opposite direction In testimony whereof ll have axed my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

im. mm. rmtmiaic Wniitinincz, Witnesses:

0. lli/IER, LOUIS H. MUNIER. 

